Riverdale has everything a coyote could ever want: water, shelter spots, wildlife to gobble up, trash left by humans and small dogs running through a nearby off-leash area.

“Riverdale has definitely been the hotspot over the years,” said Colleen Cassady St. Clair, a biological sciences professor at the University of Alberta who leads a research project on Edmonton’s urban coyotes.

It’s not just Riverdale residents who have coyotes in their backyards. The animals love the river valley, but reports come in from all over the city — more reports this year than ever, in fact.

According to city data, there have been 1,531 calls to the city including the keyword “coyote” so far in 2017. Last year’s total (for all of 2016) was 1,446. Reports have increased for the past four years, up from 148 in 2013.

Experts say the coyote population is increasing in Edmonton. Temperatures, due to climate change, have been warmer and coyotes are likely thriving due to the larger rabbit and rodent populations in warmer years.

The city has also invested in more awareness and education campaigns and streamlined calls so coyote sighting reports go to the city’s park rangers instead of the province’s wildlife officers or other agencies.

Coyotes are by far the most popular creature people report — sightings of them make up 87 per cent of all wildlife calls. In hotspot neighbourhoods like Riverdale, the city considers setting up temporary signs or scaring the animals.

In rare, severe cases, rangers might relocate or euthanize a coyote if it’s causing a lot of problems. In a majority of cases, park rangers educate people about how to interact with coyotes safely without having to track them down.

“It’s scary to some people but that really has to do with lack of education,” said Shawn Beskowiney, one of two city park rangers who field the majority of coyote calls.

To coyotes, humans are like ice cream trucks, Beskowiney explained. People are large and noisy, but they might be carrying delicious treats. According to research done by Maureen Murray on urban coyotes’ diets, the animals eat lots of rodents, ungulates, vegetation and fruit, but also chow down on human food, typically garbage.

Coyotes are extremely unlikely to attack people in search of a meal. They are relatively small animals and seek out smaller prey.

Though coyotes aren’t much of a threat to humans, pet owners should take steps to ensure their dogs and cats are safe. Sheltered indoor cats, who might mistake coyotes for dogs, and small dogs who roam out of owners’ sight are big targets for coyotes in the city.

Beskowiney recommends keeping dogs within sight in off-leash areas and ensuring cats are safe inside, or on a leash or in an enclosed backyard.

If people encounter one or more aggressive (lunging or growling) coyotes, they should make eye contact, scowl, clap and yell. This should deter a coyote, but if necessary, humans can use their arms and legs to defend themselves, as well as nearby branches or even dirt and rocks on the ground. Jumping onto a picnic table or ducking into a car are also options.

“Running is not a good idea,” Beskowiney said.

Yelling or throwing things at coyotes doesn’t seem like a kind or tolerant thing to do, but this behaviour can be helpful in the long term, St. Clair said.

By encouraging coyotes to be afraid of humans, they will be more likely to stay away from us and our food. Removing “attractants,” things like garbage and bird seed, can also keep them away from our backyards.

Though coyotes can cause grief by getting hold of house pets, they benefit the city by scavenging dead magpies and rodents.

“They’re our clean-up crew,” Beskowiney said.

“At the end of the day, they’re a really good and really interesting part of the city, and they’re not as bad as we think they are.”